Resolution
by silverwolvesarecool
Summary: Mari Macabe is still trying to get used to being the vigilante Vixen. It has been a rough six months since she was chased by two other well know vigilantes of Central and Starling (now Star) City. She had refused their offer to help train her but may change her mind when an old foe arrives to take something from her.
1. Unwelcoming News

**Hey guys! :D I don't know if you watched the season finale for Vixen but I really wanted to do something based off of her agreement to call the Flash and Arrow in case she was in a bunch. Even though the series was rather short it was still badass :) Let's cross our fingers and hope she appears in live action. Please review!**

 **Disclaimer: I own the plot and nothing else. Respectable characters belong to DC Comics and CW.**

 **Warning: Around Season 2 of The Flash (WHICH IS COMING OUT NEXT WEEK ALL MY GOSH!). Slight spoilers to season finale of Vixen. And it is from Mari's POV.**

* * *

I had to begrudgingly agree to what the Arrow warned me about; being a vigilante was _hard_. And the pain in my arm proved it. While stopping a bank robbery I had been shot in the arm by one of the robbers before I managed to throw a chair at him in order to knock him out (it later occurred to me it was a pretty stupid idea to throw a chair at him; should have done something less violent).

To make matters worse I barely had time to fly up through the skylight before the cops showed up. They really did not seem to fond of me which made me a bit annoyed since that put me with more similarity to the Arrow than the Flash (who supposedly had a good record with the cops in Central City). It kind of made sense since I _did_ put quite a few criminals into the hospital with broken limbs and/or on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I have been trying to cut down on it but it was difficult.

"Do I honestly have to look forward to pulling a bullet out of your arm every time you come home at two o' clock in the morning?" my adoptive father Chuck yawned as he straightened my arm out to examine the wound which was slowly oozing blood.

I had to dump water on his head to wake him up out of his sound sleep when I got home. This in turn made him sit up sputtering and begging the Arrow not to shoot him with an...well...an arrow before he realized it was me and not a guy who liked shooting arrows into people who 'failed' their city.

"Unfortunately..." I muttered, "Sorry...dad"

I winced as I felt the bullet come out of my arm. I thought it better not to scream as it might wake up all the neighbors like the last time I had come home with an injury. Chuck plunked it down on a small plate and started wrapping my arm up with a piece of cloth. I really needed to start building a souvenir box with all the junk I had collected (painfully and non-painfully) since I started being the vigilante Vixen.

"You are lucky it did not hit a major artery..." Chuck sighed stepping back, "I'd love to explain why the Motor City vigilante somehow showed up on my doorstep bleeding."

If he were to one having to explain then I was screwed. Chuck was a horrible liar.

"I have a bad feeling you would be stammering worse than the Flash..." I smirked.

I recalled when the Scarlet Speedster had given my codename: Vixen. He said someone by the name of Cisco gave me that nickname and immediately started blabbering about how he didn't know a person name Cisco and if he did that he would give me that name; etc. Put it this way, it was so funny I had to bite my lip to avoid laughing out loud in order to make the two continue to take me seriously. Hell...I even threatened to disembowel them if they came around my house again (which did not work since they came anyway which made me realize later that that threat was pretty stupid because a) they probably had to deal with that type of threat everyday and b)nothing really seemed to scare them).

"I am going to have nightmares about that the rest of my life..." Chuck shuttered setting the tweezers down besides the bullet, "When I opened that door to those two vigilantes I was on the verge of fainting. What I can't understand is why they let you go."

He more likely stared at them wide eyed...

"I asked them to give me a chance to try this out without help," I sighed rubbing my arm gingerly, "And after I have broken three ribs, my arm five times, my leg two times, a minor concussion, getting shot ten times and being skewered by a piece of wood over a course of ten months I am actually regretting I did not take their offer."

Yep...I just admitted that. Get over it whoever is reading this. I can still be stubborn and defiant when I want to be.

"You mean the Flash's offer...you know the Arrow is dead right?" Chuck said.

Oh right...he died after being stabbed in prison (for crying out loud did the prison system _even check_ prisoners for weapons!?). But apparently there was a new Arrow calling himself the Green Arrow who had recently been stopping crime in Starling (now called Star city in memory of some guy named Ray Palmer who died in an explosion months prior). I wondered if they were the same guy. I mean seriously...how original is name _Green Arrow_?

"Yeah...," I frowned, "If the guy was not such a jerk I would actually feel sorry for him. And the Flash...well...I don't know about him. He seems to joke a lot and not take things seriously. And then there was the manner of him barely being able to stop that giant wormhole on top of Central City six months prier."

But secretly I was actually a little afraid of him (and if you tell him or Chuck I _will_ hunt you down). He had almost caught me several times when he and Arrow were chasing me months ago. It had taken a lot to shake him off my trail even after I backhanded him (I will admit I stopped to make sure he was not too seriously hurt) and used the agility of a tiger to avoid him. And then came the manner of how fast he had taken off after he admitted kissing (or a least I assumed) the Arrow's girlfriend Felicity. I swear heard him break the sound barrier when he fled. I really couldn't blame him; the Arrow sounded pretty pissed off when he questioned his colleague about it.

"The people in Central City don't seem to mind..." my adoptive father smirked reminding me of the rally the city had held for Flash a couple days ago.

I shrugged and got to my feet. The room swam around in front of my eyes but I managed to fake that I was fine. The last thing I needed was for 'dad' to call 911 and get all sappy over me.

"I better get to bed..." I yawned, "Work tomorrow."

Believe it or not I finally got a job (even after my employer heard about the whole 'stabbing the jerk in the hand with a pen story).

"Goodnight sweetie..." Chuck smiled

"Goodnight dad..." I muttered as I walked up the stairs.

I barely had time to get the 'brown leotard' (as the Arrow called it and it took a lot of will power not to jump down, walk over, and smack him when he said that) off before I fell face down on the bed and immediately started snoring.

Little did I know that things were going to go from bad...to worse.

* * *

 _Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah!_

I stuck my hand out from under the covers and groped for the alarm before I managed to turn it off. I lay there for a minute and groaned. I really did not want to get up. But unless I wanted to be fired I had to.

" _Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!"_

I scowled and threw the covers off; annoyed that the alarm was still on. I made a fist preparing to smash the alarm (even though this was the fifth alarm I had gone through) if necessary but discovered it was already unarmed. That was when I realized it was my door being knocked on.

"Open the door Mari!"

I grumbled but shrugged my jacket on in a last ditch effort to hide my slightly blood-stained bandage before opening the door a crack.

"What do you want Kate?" I asked stifling a yawn.

A couple of weeks after my talk with the Arrow and Flash I had finally gotten a job as a fashion designer. While there I had befriended another lady named Katie (which took a lot of effort considering I really did not get along with many people). Fortunately we both got along enough to work together. Recently we had been working on a dress but never found out if the producers liked it or not. It had been several weeks and we had both grown worried. Did they like it or did they not like it? They would send a letter stating both results but so far we had no response.

"To tell you that our drawing of the dress was chosen to be published..." my friend replied with a grin.

Yeah right...that was just like saying I had accepted the Arrow and the Flash's offer to train me (which I did not).

"You better not be pulling on my foot..." I said sarcastically.

I opened the door wider to allow my friend into my bedroom.

"I'm not!" she snorted and pulled out a small envelope, "Check it."

I glanced down and found to my surprise that she was right.

"Look on the bright side Mari...you finally have a dress that will match that cute necklace of yours..." she smirked.

Get this in case you have not already gotten it: My friend does not know what my necklace can do; period. If she did she'd probably kill me and then bring me back to life and ask for my autograph.

"I'm _not_ going to wear a _dress_..." I growled.

I despise dresses with a passion (which was ironic considering I am a fashion designer). I preferred jeans, legging pants, jackets(cotton or leather), boots and/or long sleeve T-shirts.

"And the best part is the man who is interested in buying the design lives in Central City," Kate beamed.

I have no idea what the look on my face was but the next thing I knew was waking up to ice cold water being dumped on me. I coughed and spat water out like a fountain before I managed to get my bearings. I was on the floor of my bedroom surrounded by a puddle of water. Kate was standing over me holding a small empty bucket that was dripping slightly.

"You fainted..." she deadpanned.

"Thanks..." I said sarcastically while getting to my feet, "Like the ice cold water bath did not explain it already."

Chuck was going to kill me for this.

"I'm hoping it was from excitement..." she continued setting the bucket down, "Because your face turned pale and frightened before you keeled over."

"It is..." I swallowed hard before lying, "From excitement."

Thank God my friend was kind of dense. She took the lie to be the truth.

"Good..." she beamed, "Because we will be leaving...today. Get packing while I go tell Chuck."

She left me standing in the middle of my bedroom surrounded by a puddle of water with the liquid dripping from my hair. It took a while for the words to settle in and take meaning. If I went to Central City either I would have a good time or the Flash might show up and offer to help train me again; worst part is I might say yes.

So I said the first logical word that came to mind as I sat down on the bed and buried my face in my hands, "Crap."

 **How is that for a start? :) I will add more chapters don't worry :) Please R &R!**


	2. Third Encounter

**I'm glad you guys like it. :) Here is more for you!**

 **Guest: Thanks for reminding me about that XD I completely forgot. I changed it so now it is correct.**

* * *

The train ride to Central was mercifully short. Several times I had walked to the end of the high-speed train and stared down the tracks that went whistling by under us. There was a sign that stated _DANGER: DO NOT LEAN AGAINST RAILING_ with a little black and white cartoon showing a person falling off the train. I ignored it; partially because I did not mind the danger (plus I had done much more dangerous things than leaning against a train railing). Each bump jarred me up and down or from side to side. I leaned against the back of the train as far away from the sides as possible and watched as Detroit pulled farther and farther away from me. I recalled my father's talk with me before I had left (out of earshot from Kate who was in her car honking at me to hurry up).

 _FLASHBACK_ _  
"Mari...are you absolutely sure about this? You do realize the Flash knows your secret identity right?" Chuck asked his eyebrows knitting together._

 _He looked really scared. I couldn't blame him. What if I did something really bad and Flash turned me into the police. I would lose my job, my reputation, and my friend. But unless I wanted to have a fun time explaining to Kate as to why I couldn't go to Central City I would have to risk him knowing about how the police here were quite eager to put me in handcuffs (and why all the crooks in my city had suddenly turned chicken)._

 _"I'll be fine Chuck..." I promised, "If need be I can backhand him again."_

 _Chuck gave me a hard look that slowly turned into surprise. Kate honked her horn again; this time she held it longer than usual._

 _"Hurry up Mari! We're going to miss the train!" she shouted through the open front door._

 _"Ignore what I just said..." I said quickly not really wanting to explain, "Look...just try not to call the police again ok? I will make it back again...I promise."_

 _I patted my backpack which held my costume. I decided to take it just in case I need it for disguise or something._

 _"Promise me you will not be kidnapped to Africa again and I will..." he grumbled._

 _He never was going to let that go was he?_

 _"I love you dad..." I said giving him a quick hug._

 _"Me to sweetie..." he responded hugging me back._

 _As I exited the door I turned back to look at him. He gave me a quick smile and waved._

 _END OF FLASHBACK_

"Mari?"

I turned to see Kate standing at the doorway looking worried.

"You've been standing out here for half an hour..." she said.

Had it been really that long? I really couldn't tell since I did not have a watch.

"Sorry...just thinking..." I muttered drawing my jacket closer around myself before walking back into the train.

We did not say another word to each other on the rest of the way as I had decided to take a nap to avoid a conversation with her.

* * *

"You've been in Central before haven't you?" Kate asked as we walked away from the train station in Central City.

The answer is yes in case you are wondering. That was before I got chased by Cosplay.

"Um...yes..." I replied uncertainly rubbing my wounded arm which was slightly throbbing.

Kate gave me a strange look but did not press for answers. We silently walked down the walkway every now and then stopping to look into store windows. The entire city seemed to be high on coffee; people were rushing everywhere. Several times people bumped into us, apologized and then rushed away.

"So uh...why did you come here in the first place?" Kate asked after a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"To find out more about my family..." I responded hefting my backpack (which was stuffed full of clothes, my vigilante costume, and my wallet), "Which I didn't."

The way I did find out about who my family was really messed up. I found out from my psychotic/evil older sister who was a little on the loony side. Alright fine...a lot on the loony side. Point was after I kicked her ass and took the Totem back I never heard or saw her again. But my gut told me she was still out there trying to take the Totem back from me despite the animal spirits telling me I was the rightful owner and she was not.

So yeah...if you think your life is screwed up then I have a feeling that mine is even more so. I think even learning about who my family was from the Arrow or Flash would have been a lot better than from a mad (as in crazy) sister.

"Oh...," Kate replied.

She knew better not to ask me about my family. I think she realized it made me sad or in some rare cases upset. So she changed the subject and started cheerfully talking about how amazing it was to be in this city which had its very own guardian angel. Yeah...a guardian angel with a tendency to stammer in front of people. I half ignored her and continued to look around at the surrounding buildings. Many of them were still damaged even months after that giant worm hole incident. For the first time since I met him in person I had a great respect for the Flash. It must have taken a lot of energy and determination to prevent that thing from eating the entire earth.

Then again he had a day dedicated to him. Hopefully he didn't get a fat head over it.

"Ah...you must be Kate and Mari..." a voice said.

I whipped around to see a man dressed in a business suit standing at the entrance of one of the office buildings. I let out a sigh of relief and dropped my hand. I had been prepared to activate the Totem's power but decided to check first before doing so. Good thing I did because the man would have been knocked out or hung over a street lamp and Kate would have been yelling at me for not telling her I was the vigilante of Motor City. Or more likely ask me if I had been eating spinach or something...

"Mr. Roche I presume?" I asked.

"Please...call me Bryan..." he snorted.

He waved us into the building and started talking about how much his company had like the design etc. I think I zooned out a little since most of what he was talking about was pretty much snore vil (plus I was tired from the night before and the quick nap on the train did nothing to improve it). In fact I was so bored if it weren't for the gunshots I would have fallen asleep standing up.

Wait a sec...did I just say gunshots? I thought I must have been hearing and thinking things when Mr. Roche stiffened. We had stopped in a very narrow hallway with one open door on either end of it. The luminous lights were the only source of lighting so if they went out we were not in a good place; well at least my friend would not be in a good place (I did not mind the dark).

"Did you ladies hear that?" he asked.

That was when the lights went out (of course) in the building making Kate shriek and dig her nails into my arm. I'll admit they were not as sharp as mine when I had my costume on but they still hurt like the dickens.

"Yeah..." I winced before shrugging Kate off, "Watch the nails!"

Mr. Roche (Bryan; whatever) immediately started dialing 911. Watching him, Kate started to hyperventilate (she really does not do well in dark, tight/narrow spaces) and promptly fainted. The open doors provided some lighting from the outside in so we were not entirely doomed. Bryan dropped his phone and started trying to revive Kate who was dead to the world. While he was busy gently slapping her face I snuck out the door.

Even though I wasn't in Motor City I still needed to check this out.

After making sure there were no security cameras around or people I pried open the nearest window and crawled down the side of the building into the alley below us (this is where I figured the noise originated from). Reaching the bottom I touched the necklace to have the agility of a tiger in case I had to make a hasty escape. All was quiet except for the sound of my own breathing.

That was when I heard someone take in a ragged breath. I saw someone bunched up on the ground clutching his stomach. He seemed to be in extreme pain. I guess he must have heard my footsteps or something because he turned suddenly giving me a glimpse of a bloodstained hole in his chest. Blood was spurting out of the wound making my stomach curdle.

"Help...me..." he said hoarsely, shuttering.

He started coughing violently. I quickly unslung my backpack and took out the first shirt I saw to press against his wound. Blood immediately started soaking through it. I cursed wishing that my old cell phone was not currently just a bunch of tiny little particles. I know you are wondering how it came to be that way. I had dropped it while trying to climb up the side of an office building trying to rescue some people stranded at the top while it was on fire. Let's just say that the phone store manager kicked me out when I walked in hoping to get a replacement for it. I had to go to three other stores before finally replacing it. But the new one had a dead battery right now so I couldn't use it.

"Sir...don't worry the ambulance is on its way..." I said gently patting him on the shoulder, "What is your name?"

He tried to speak but no sound came out. Instead he grabbed one of my hands and held it so tightly it burned. With his free hand he shakily pointed it at my Totem. I drew back, clutched it, and looked at him worriedly.

"She...knows...all a trick..." he rasped, "She..."

He fell back and went still. I hastily dropped his now stiff hand in shock. This unnamed man had literally died in my arms. Even though I did not know him I couldn't help but start getting a little teary eyed. I got to my feet and examined my bloodstained hands. I had tried to stop the bleeding but the bullet must have stuck a major artery. Before I could decided what to do next I heard the familiar noise of electricity cackling. Recognizing the sound I quickly stumbled into the shadows and used camouflage to hide. I did not need to have a confrontation after being the city for only an hour!

The Flash came to a stop in front of the dead man. He bent down and pressed two fingers against his neck to check his pulse. I know his effort was fruitless but he did not know that the man had died only seconds before he had gotten there. A few seconds later he dropped his head down letting me know he just found out.

That was when Flash noticed my shirt bunched up against the bullet wound and picked it up cautiously before dropping it wearily on the man's chest. He glanced around as if trying to find whoever left was still here (which I technically was).

"Anyone there?" he called getting to his feet.

I had to bite my tongue not to respond. I did notice however he had gotten a new upgrade to his suit. Instead of a scarlet background behind the lightning bolt he had a white one. It made the lighting bolt stand out more in a way. Really cool looking in fact.

"Guess not..." he muttered quietly to himself.

He glanced in my direction again before taking off. I immediately dropped the camouflage and ran up to the dead man just as soon as Kate and Mr. Roche came into the alley way.

"Mari..." Kate started.

"I t-t-tried to stop the bleeding..." I stammered, "But he passed away only a few minutes ago."

There was no time for me to say anymore as the police had pulled up with the ambulance. Then came the worst thing a vigilante incognito could ever happen to them; questioning by police.


	3. A Meeting and Unfriendly Conversation

**More :D This one is long!**

* * *

One disadvantage when talking to a cop when you are a vigilante in civilian disguise is well...trying not turn pale, shake like a leaf in a storm, or start blabbering. If you do that then you are toast.

I like to say I kept a cool head while being asked if I had seen anyone leave the scene before I tried to stop the bleeding. The truth was my hands got so sweaty I had to stick them in my jacket's pockets and clamp my upper teeth to my lower lip to prevent it from quivering. Which meant I was going to have a fun time washing all the blood out of it later on.

Here is what the police had information wise; gunshots were heard in the alley roughly ten minutes ago and the power went out in the building due to a stray bullet striking the power control box. I was considered to be a witness since I came upon the man before he died.

"So you are sure you saw no one leaving the scene?" the detective (who had introduced himself as Joe West) asked.

Of all the people to question me it had to be the guy in charge of the Metahuman task force...

"Pretty sure..." I confirmed.

What?! Its the truth!

"Is this true?" he asked turning to my friend.

I was...officially... _doomed_. How else can I tell you besides putting the word in italics and underlining it? If you can tell me than I owe you one.

"Officer..." Kate put in nervously, "A-A-A-All I heard was the g-g-g-gunshot and um...I lost consciousness because the blood ran to my head and the next thing I knew was Mari was in the alleyway trying to stop the man from bleeding. Which she r-r-r-really did not do a g-g-g-good job of..."

She trailed off miserably and shuttered.

"Thanks Katie..." I muttered through gritted teeth, "I'm not a doctor you know..."

Leave it to my friend to turn the polices' suspicions right back on me. Detective West turned to me with such a scrutinizing gaze that it took a lot to look at him in the eye and not even act fazed. Considering I once looked a lion no farther than a foot away from me right in the eye it was no big deal (although I'll admit it wasn't a real lion; just the spirit of one).

I counted to the count of three before he said anything. Fortunately he didn't try to accuse me of not trying harder to save the man.

"Well if you remember anything please feel free to call us..." he said turning to a clean sheet in his note book.

I nodded curtly while examining the dirt between my feet and glanced up when another man walked up. He looked really mad. Judging by the badge on his belt I'd say he was a captain in the police force.

"Joe!" he barked, "Where the hell is Allen?"

Behind him I heard another cop snicker, "Late as usual...what do you think?"

A sudden crash at the entrance of the alley made everyone look up. A young man about twenty six or so went sprawling over the trashcan sending garbage every where. He cursed quietly under his breath and managed to untangle his long legs from under it. Noticing that everyone was staring at him he blushed a deep scarlet red color.

"Sorry...Captain Singh..." he gulped quickly picking the trashcan up.

Captain Singh (as I figured the man who looked really peeved) shot him a murderous look, "What is your excuse this time Mr. Allen? Car trouble...because as I recall you used that excuse last week and yet you still don't have a car..."

Rule number one of making excuses: Try to make them make sense.

"No...err..." the young man Allen (which must have been his last name) gulped, "I-I-I-It w-w-was...the s-s-stove. It ignited and I um...had to put it out."

I frowned. I could have sworn I heard his voice before from somewhere. And his face looked familiar. I mean the shape of it...and his eyes to.

His boss looked taken back, "What on earth were you cooking on there that it burned?!"

"Long story..." the young man said miserably.

"Get to work then Barry..." his boss sighed exasperated rubbing the bridge of his nose between his eyes.

As 'Barry' bumped by me he looked at me and turned pale; or at least I think he did. It disappeared within an instant of looking at him. He bowed his head, muttered an apology and skittered around me to investigate the corpse. A policewoman who had her hair pinned up in a braided bun walked over to him as if she wanted to talk to him.

"Come on Kate...lets go..." I muttered not really wanting to watch someone try to piece together what exactly happened.

We left the crime scene and I made a point of going to the nearest restroom and washing up. It was hard walking into the department store with bloody hands. I had to lie and say that I had just gotten back from a painting job. I don't think anyone believed me.

* * *

Sometimes I really think that fate hates you. Or maybe that is just me. After promising Mr. Roche to pick up where we had left off today before the murder, Kate (just her) and I (after being negotiated into it) decided to explore the city. I had to say it was bit more interesting/safer than Motor City. At least here I did not have to worry about being mugged as often. So by the time the sun had set Kate was complaining she was tired and we decided to check into the hotel rooms we had booked. My friend retired early to her separate room.

I on the other hand climbed onto the top of the building and sat down on the edge of it after taking care of an issue a couple blocks away. I dangled my feet and watched as the cars below me moved from street to street. Asides from the occasional horn honk and police siren in the distance it was pretty quiet. I drew my feet up and tucked my legs under myself before wrapping my arms around them. I glanced at the full moon before resting my chin between my knees. I thought back to what the dying man had said.

 _She...knows...all a trick..."_ he had rasped _, "She..."_

And then he had died before finishing his sentence. Who was this mysterious she? And what did he mean by it was all a trick? I scowled, straightened up before bending one of my knees and letting the other dangle over the edge of the building. I glanced down again at the street and narrowed my eyes when I felt someone's presence behind me.

"What do you want Flash?" I asked coldly without turning around.

I was pretty ticked off that he had somehow found me up here. Its not like I had used my necklace or anything to beat up some crooks earlier (ok maybe just a little) before putting my civilian outfit on again. But still...how could he have known about it so quick?

"How did you..." he started to ask.

His voice sounded different...as if he had swallowed a microphone or something of the sort.

"The crackling electricity and gust of wind kind of gave it away..." I said dryly.

"Oh...," there was a pause.

I turned around to look at him. He was roughly two feet away from me but it was rather hard to make out his facial features for some reason. It was like his face was vibrating.

"Answer me...what...do...you...want?" I asked trying to keep the anger out of my voice, "And how the hell did you know I was here in Central?"

He smirked at me, "You showed up on the facial recognition software my...err...friend designed to recognize anyone 'Metahuman' and he tracked you here on your phone. Plus I...um...saw your shadow in that allyway when I checked on the victim...you know...to make sure he was alive and...yeah."

Crap...the Arrow must have showed him how to know when someone was using camouflage. Lucky me. I realize that there something odd about how he answered. It sounded a little off like he was lying or something.

"If I ever meet your friend he and I are defiantly going to have a talk about privacy..." I said crossly.

A really serious talk...although I really couldn't be too mad at his friend; after all he might be the one who gave me the cool code name. And if he wasn't well...

"I wanted to ask you..." Flash paused before continuing in his strange vibrating voice, "What are you doing here? After my friend and I um...chased you the last thing I would suspect is you showing up in one our territories."

Ok...there was defiantly some up with him. Why was he disguising his voice around me? It sounded way different from the last time he spoke to me.

"Job...friend...bored out of my mind" I grumbled counting off the reasons on my fingers, "Mostly blame my friend...if I had a say in it I would have _never_ come here because I might have seen you; which I am right now. No offense."

"Oh none taken..." Flash replied sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes before turning away from him. I heard some police sirens off in the distance. Somewhere behind me I heard someone else (who was not the Flash) mutter something incoherent.

"Hang on..." I heard him sigh in annoyance, "Let me take care off the stolen car chase with armed robbers and come back to finish the discussion."

This guy seemed to deal with a lot when he tried having a 'serious' conversation with someone.

"Don't get shot..." I said sarcastically without looking at him.

"Ha, ha, ha...very funny," he shot back before speeding off.

I shook my head and sighed deeply. I considered going to another building several blocks away to hide but thought better of it. His friend probably would highjack and track my phone again and then he would continue to talk to me. A sudden blast of wind announced Flash's reappearance before I could change my mind again.

"I swear that robbers still haven't figured out I can catch them..." he huffed, "Idiots took off as soon as they saw me. Gave them a minute head start before I handcuffed them to a light post."

Maybe I should start doing that instead of throwing a chair at them to knock them out.

"Robbers are pretty stupid..." I admitted turning to look at him, "I have had to deal with my share of them in Motor City."

"So I've heard..." he muttered, "You really need to learn how _not_ to put them in the hospital all the time."

Great...so he read about all my 'attacks' in the newspaper. I really hoped he wouldn't offer to help train me again.

"Working on it..." I growled turning away again, "Don't try to tell me the Arrow did not have to learn impulse control before he even met you or me."

There was a nasty bit of silence for a while. I was itching to turn around to see his reaction but thought it better not to.

"Don't...disembowel me for asking this...but...um...did you find out about whatever it was you were looking for..." Flash asked before pausing a second and cautiously saying while scratching the back of his head nervously, "That you said that we couldn't help you with it. I mean...I _really_ did not get a chance to ask that considering I _did not_ want an arrow in the back after that awkward conversation Ol-Arrow and I had in front of you."

Did he seriously almost say a name? I decided not to ask.

"Yes...," I sighed turning towards him again, "I really don't want to talk about it."

He nodded as if he understood. That was when I heard a voice come out of no where. It seemed to coming from his suit. That must have been the incoherent sound I had heard earlier.

"Come on...ask her if she wants training!"

Ok then...someone _else_ asked that I wanted training. At least whoever it was, was better than Flash asking it.

"No Cisco..." I heard him grumble before his eyes widened as he remembered I was sitting right in front of him within earshot.

I have a good feeling what he was thinking right now. Words that should not be said out loud or written.

"So you are know a guy named Cisco after all..." I smirked.

The look on his face was priceless. I wish had my phone on because I could have taken a picture of it.

"Did I just say that aloud?" he asked meekly.

He dropped his hand to his side from its position by his ear. Apparently it was the only way to activate the comn system in his mask.

"Yes you did...I even have it recorded..." the voice who I took to be Cisco's said in a tone that made me think he was smirking.

"Not helping..." Flash muttered through gritted teeth.

Is it just me or did he seem to get into an 'argument' with everyone he talked to.

"Hey...I not going to kill him so your secret is safe...jeez..." I snorted, "Just because I backhanded you so that you achieved lift off ten or so feet off the ground does not mean I'm going to do something worse to someone you know."

I am not that mean. Or maybe just a little because Flash gave me a pained look that said, 'really'. Seconds later I found out why he looked at me that way.

"Wait she backhanded you ten feet into the air?" Cisco's voice asked with disbelief, "That's sounds almost as bad as the time as you almost got strangled to death by Atom Smasher."

Atom who? Did this guy seriously name _all_ the villains Flash had to deal with? Or in my case...good 'Metahumans'?

"I still haven't figured out why you get a kick out naming all the villains he goes against..." another man muttered in the background.

"Hey! You do the same!" Cisco complained to the speaker, "Remember you named Sand Demon?"

Fortunately Flash ignored his friends' comments and shrugged before saying to me, "Look...do you know anything about the identity of who killed that man? I work with the police to err...help them solve murders and stop crimes that are ordinary and out of the ordinary in which the Met-."

I had feeling he was going to say the Metahuman task force but changed his mind about saying it; perhaps fearing it would be bad for his health. And it might have been.

"No...if I did I would tell you," I responded before glaring at him, "And I swear if you tell them that I have powers..."

If he told that damn task force about the totem I didn't care how important a hero he was. He was going to get a pretty good idea of what it would be like to be attacked by a lion. Or a tiger...or maybe being backhanded again with the strength of an elephant _except_ this I would make sure he went higher into the air.

"I will not!" he protested spreading his arms out in a calming gesture, "I know my mouth sometimes moves faster than I can process my thoughts but I won't tell them about you—err...you're secret identity or what you can do. I promise."

For some reason I actually believed him; surprisingly.

"You got that right about your mouth moving faster than your thoughts..." muttered new voice; a woman's emitted from the suit this time.

I heard Cisco snicker in the background and I could tell the Flash had just about had it with his friends by his annoyed look.

"Good...because from what I heard it took a lot to get a task force off _your_ ass..." I smirked.

"Three months actually..." Cisco's voice drawled.

I couldn't help but grin; Cisco seemed to like blurt out sentences that annoyed people especially the guy in front of me.

"Again...not helping man..." Flash grumbled putting his hands on his hips.

That was when I heard Kate's sleepy voice call out her window below us, "Mari? What's going on up there?"

Flash opened his mouth to say something but I drew my hand across my mouth and then my throat sending the message ' _one word from you and you're dead_ _'._ Fortunately he got the silent message and withdrew into the shadows seconds before Kate opened the entry door to the roof on top of the hotel.

"Who were you -yawn- talking to right now?" she asked covering her mouth to hide an enormous yawn.

"No one..." I responded glancing in Flash's direction nervously.

I could see he was wondering what the heck I was doing but chose wisely not say anything. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as he waited for me to complete my discussion with my friend.

"Uh huh..." Kate rolled her eyes.

"I sometimes talk out loud to ease my err...thoughts..." I lied.

Crap...now I was really sounding out of character. It took a lot of will power not to glare at Flash who was smirking at me teasingly for my comment. My friend closed her eyes to yawn so I took the opportunity to mouth ' _shut up_ ' at him.

"Oh..." Kate said uncertainly after she finished yawning, "I got worried that I didn't hear any noises coming from your hotel room. I thought you might have left or something."

Technically I did leave to explore the city and took care of an attempted robbery along the way before coming back to the rooftop to have a not-so-friendly conversation with a guy I did not particularly trust until recently.

"Well I didn't..." I let out a sigh of relief that she had bought it, "I just came out here...to uh...clear my thoughts."

My friend nodded before opening the door back into the hotel. Before leaving she said, "Chuck asked me to make sure you would be alright on this trip Mari. I really didn't intend to tell him you disappeared again."

She disappeared from view leaving me to silently curse Chuck and his paranoia about my health. Flash came out of the shadows. Before he could ask I answered while raising my right hand to silence him,

"Yes that's my friend and _no_ she doesn't know about what I can do. Believe if she did...she'd kill me. Come to think of it she would kill me for even knowing _you_. But I bet you have no idea what that feels like."

"I actually do..." he grunted, "Trust me..."

"Got that right..." another female voice said into his comn (well I at least assumed it was a different one from what I had heard before).

I glanced away from him and waited for him to say anything else he wanted to.

"Look Mari...if you ever need any help I can help you...Green Arrow can to..." Flash said uncomfortably after a while, "Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need any."

Before I could respond he took off leaving a trail of dust and a faint smell of electricity. After the wind died down I was half tempted to call S.T.A.R Labs and tell them that I did need help; that I was on the end of my rope with the vigilante business. But for some reason I hesitated. Call me stubborn or thick-headed or whatever you wish but I still felt like I could do it on my own.

Mind made up I returned to my bedroom and laid down on the bed. It took a while for sleep to find me. Little did I know that I should have taken Flash's second 'offer'; it probably would have made what was to come never come.


	4. Realization

**Hope you guys like this even though it is short :P**

* * *

"Get much rest last night? Because you look like you've been through hell and back..." Kate smirked over a cup of coffee (called the Flash, THE GUY _EVEN_ HAD A BEVERAGE NAMED AFTER HIM?) at the coffee shop Jitter's (which had suspiciously been rebuilt three months ahead of the time it was suppose to be completed).

I had a feeling Flash had something to do with it and other businesses being rebuilt quicker than the set deadline. Goes to show you what a helpful guy he actually was.

"Not really..." I grumbled staring down into my coffee.

In my reflection I could see that I had dark circles under my eyes. After my talk with Flash last night I really did not get any sleep. I had literally tossed and turned for hours turning what he told me over and over in my head again and again. When I eventually fell asleep all I dreamed of was of my nutcase sister trying to kill me again with a poisonous spider bite in order to take the Totem. Which of course I woke from in a cold sweat and then it took another two hours to fall asleep again only to be woken up half an hour later by front desk of the hotel. Why did I ever ask them to wake me up at nine in the morning!?

"Well...good news is we have the meeting with Mr. Roche scheduled for tonight so we have hours to kill..." Kate said.

"Yay..." I muttered swishing the coffee around in the cup, "Is it possible if I could...oh I don't know...look around at the stores by myself?"

I did not need a repeat of yesterday. Which involved my friend trying to convince me to buy a couple of necklaces. Um...I already have one that I like and doesn't come off my neck (unless I am bitten by a spider).

"Sure! I really have to visit an old friend of mine anyways..." Kate grinned, "I'm happy to finally find out you want to explore on your own."

" _If you only had a clue of what I have explored on my own_ ," I thought miserably.

* * *

I had to hand it to the crooks in Central City...they were _pretty_ stupid. I mean seriously...you live in a city who has guy who can travel from point a to point b in the blink of an eye and yet you _still_ try to rob people. I had barely gone ten feet away from Jitters before some guy pulled me into an ally way. I struggled and managed to wrench myself away from him at the entrance.

"Give me your wallet," he told me cocking the safety off his gun, "And the pretty necklace to while you are at it. Otherwise I will shoot you."

I frowned at him and prepared to shove him head first into one of the nearby trashcans before a blur of red and yellow swirled around him leaving him handcuffed and struggling on the ground. Seeing who was standing to side of him the crook immediately fainted.

"You're welcome?" Flash asked carelessly tossing the gun to the ground in front of him and kicking it to the side.

He was standing in front of me arms crossed with his eyebrow raised. He was still using that weird vibrating voice and his facial features were still hard to make out. I didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. I decided to go with annoyance.

"Why the hell are you stalking me?!" I snapped placing my hands on my waist.

I don't know if he seemed more surprised or annoyed by my accusation.

"Hey...it was not my idea ok? It was—" he started to protest while gesturing to his ear piece but then changed his explanation entirely, "I...err...I usually patrol the streets in case something comes up and I saw you with a gun pointed at your head as I passed by. Is it wrong that I helped?"

I scowled at him and was about to give him a tongue lashing but I noticed that another mugger was coming up behind him with a broken piece of pipe in his hands. I think I should be the only one considered worthy enough to hit Flash and get away with it. So I activated my totem, picked up a nearby trashcan lid and threw it like a Frisbee. It smacked right into the mugger right in the stomach and sent him flying backwards into a pile of garbage bags. Flash whipped around startled to see the would be 'robber' moaning in pain before turning back to me with a quick look of admiration.

"I knew he was there..." he said hesitantly gesturing behind him.

"Oh really?" I said sarcastically crossing my arms, " _You're welcome_? Now do you mind? I like my privacy."

I just about had it with him following me around. I turned to leave but he raced in front of me.

"Ok look Mari..." he said sighing holding his hands up, "I know...you really _do not_ like me or Arrow after that whole chasing you throughout Detroit and scaring people out of their minds—"

"Got that right..." I grumbled.

He and the Arrow defiantly scared the crap out of at least five people driving their cars. I heard at least three cars screech to a halt while honking their horns and the other two slam into each other while watching them chase me up the side of a building.

"—But is it possible to accept the fact that I am willing to apologize for that?" he continued oblivious to what I had said.

Roughly ten months later and he is _finally_ apologizing!?

"Maybe..." I said tapping my chin, "But I will accept it only if you stop _following_ me around! My answer is no...and it still will be no!"

I brushed past him and stormed out of the alleyway leaving him there to contemplate what I had said. It took a lot to get rid of the anger I had. But eventually I calmed down enough to enjoy the walk and the stores. After making sure that Flash was no where in sight or in hearing range I decided to call Chuck and tell him things were fine.

Ah no...that really didn't happen.

"Mari...before you say anything I told you going there was a bad idea..." Chuck said as soon as he picked up.

"How did you know what I was going to say?" I asked.

"Lucky guess..." he sighed.

"Figured..." I muttered.

If Chuck had a super power then it defiantly would be mind reading.

"So...ah...have you ran into the..."

"Flash?" I sighed wearily, "Yeah...twice. Still is asking me if I want training or not. I mean his friend is at least."

If I ever met his friend I would flat out tell him that he should stop asking Flash to be the messenger.

"From what I can tell after all these months is you do want to say yes..." Chuck said.

I sucked in my cheeks in annoyance and let out the air slowly trying to avoid answering.

"Mari...maybe its for the best," he said wearily, "One of these days you might end up dead if you don't at least ask for some advice."

I wanted so badly to tell him that I was contemplating it. But I hesitated and did not say it.

"Goodbye Chuck..." I replied softly.

I hung up before he could respond.

* * *

"Ok...what happened? You seemed pissed off at someone..." Kate said as we walked up to Mr. Roche's building.

It was hours later and the sun had already set. I found it odd that Mr. Roche wanted to meet us when it was dark but kept it to myself. I will admit I was still slightly miffed by being confronted by Flash for a second day in a row and being told my adoptive father that maybe I should take Flash's offer. To be honest I was afraid of what might happen if I did.

"I'm not..." I lied.

I stuck my hands in my jacket pockets and walked ahead of her.

"Really? Because you literally looked like you are going to tear someone's head off..." she sighed trotting up to my side.

"Well I won't...unless I have to..." I smirked.

Kate laughed, "I love your sense of humor. You wouldn't actually do that...right?"

I could sense her nervous hesitation on the last sentence.

"Of course not!" I snorted, "You've been reading to much on that supposed vigilante in Motor City haven't you."

In order to keep my alter ego a secret I basically had to make fun of it. Yeah I know... _total_ migraine.

"A bit..." she admitted, "I don't know whether to thank her or smack her for what's she's done for the city."

Alright I'll admit...it took _a lot_ to ignore what Kate just said. Hell...I wonder how Flash deals with that crap when he is in civilian identity.

"Crime has been down since Vixen became active..." I pointed out.

"Duh...considering most of the criminals are in the jail hospital..." Kate snorted.

We both laughed nervously at this and continued on our way to the building. I spotted Mr. Roche standing at the top of the steps.

"Good evening Mari MaCabe..." he said bowing his head, "And to your friend as well."

There seemed something off about him; why was he saying my full name? He was smiling but the smile seemed more like a grimace than a greeting. He also seemed to be looking directly behind us instead of right at us.

"Wait a second..." I muttered.

I halted and yanked Kate back so she couldn't continue forward.

"Um Mari?" she asked nervously, "What wrong?"

The dying man's words echoed inside my head ' _she knows...all a trick...she knows_ " I realized that this whole trip to Central had been a set up; that we had not really won the contest.

"Run..." I responded.

I ran in the opposite direction pulling Kate right behind me. I heard Mr. Roche curse and starting to sprint after us. I heard him start talking to someone...perhaps viva walkie-talkie or a cell phone.

"Can you please tell me what the hell is going on!" Kate asked panicked as I yanked her down an ally way.

"Can't explain now...will do so later..." I responded breathlessly, "Just run and hope that the Flash is on patrol."

Yeah I just said that. I would think Kate knowing that I knew the Flash would be better than her knowing I was the vigilante Vixen...you know what...I have feeling about what you are going to say so don't say it.

We continued to run down the alley way serving to avoid trashcans and puddles of smelly water. I was so concentrated on making sure we got ahead of Mr. Roche and whatever backup he called that when Kate suddenly stopped short I nearly got a whiplash.

"MARI!" she screamed.

I turned and saw a tall, burly thug had wrapped his beefy arms around her and was yanking her away from me. I reached down and snatched up a trashcan lid. Before I could throw something hit me hard in the stomach. I collapsed to the damp concrete wheezing. Black spots danced in front of my eyes. My sight started fading.

I watched helplessly as Kate continued to be dragged away (now joined by Mr. Roche who was helping the thug) from me screaming my name as my eyesight grew fuzzier and my hearing grew dimmer.

"No..." I croaked.

I tried rising up but fell back to the ground. I watched as Kate's figure grew blurrier and blurrier. I struggled to get to my feet again but my cheek dug into the concrete and I couldn't move. Gritting my teeth I got to my feet drunkenly. As I was about to activate my totem pain erupted from the back of my head and I fell to the ground out cold before I even hit it.


	5. Finally Trusting

**Ok...this one is longer to make up for the last chapter. :D Hope you enjoy it!**

 **AND YES JAY GARRICK IS IN IT! -FAN GIRL SCREAM-**

* * *

 _"Mari..."_

 _I groaned in pain hearing the male voice wrap itself around my head. It echoed as if the speaker was talking through a hollow tube._

 _"Mari..."_

 _I saw in the distance one of the animal spirits; it was the lion. He was slowly padding towards me. Instead of being solid he looked more like the figure that appeared anytime I activated my totem. He looked down at me with concern in his glowing eyes. His purplish outline was nearly transparent._

 _"Do not worry child...you are in safe hands now..." he said his voice echoing._

 _"Where..." I rasped._

 _I looked around and saw that our surroundings were black. The only source of lighting was from the spirit lion._

 _"I cannot say she-spirit..." the lion replied coming to a stop a foot in front of me._

 _"No...I mean...where am I right now? Why is everything...black?" I asked struggling to my feet._

 _The pain was gone now. I couldn't even feel it._

 _"In a dream-scape..." he answered, "It is the only way we...the spirits...can talk to you."_

 _"And the other way?" I asked suspiciously._

 _I recalled being able to talk to them after my stupid, evil sister left me to die on the plains of Africa. Just your average family reunion._

 _"If you are near death," the lion answered his tail twitching, "Which is why you were able to see us on the African plains as normal creatures. Here..we look as you can see us when you activate the totem."_

 _"Ok-ay then..." I muttered looking down at him, "Then where is my actually body...not the creepy astro-, -whatever you call it body-in what is it called?"_

 _I resisted the itch to punch him for not really being helpful with his explanations._

 _"A dream-scape?" he asked cocking his head to the side._

 _"Yeah that..." I said, "I'm not actually dead...right?"_

 _If I was dead then Chuck was definitely going to kill me again if I miraculously came back to life._

 _"No...fortunately" the spirit lion responded, "But your friend will be if you do not wake soon."_

 _My heart clenched._

 _"Then wake me up!" I exclaimed._

 _I pinched my arm but felt no pain. I huffed then punched myself as hard as I could in my stomach and still felt nothing; I still couldn't wake make myself up. I growled in frustration._

 _"That does not always work..." the lion chided_ _._

 _"Could have told me that sooner..." I grumbled._

 _I straighten my jacket out and put my hands on my hips to show the lion I was pretty annoyed with him._

 _"At any rate your friend is in grave danger..." he continued ignoring the glare I was giving him._

 _"Kate? What...who...where those men?" I asked faltering slightly._

 _I had a sick feeling in my stomach and I knew it was defiantly not from punching myself._

 _"I think you know the answer child..." the spirit sighed sitting on his haunches._

 _I opened my mouth to respond but he started flickering in and out of sight._

 _"Hey what is going on?" I asked panicked._

 _The surroundings around me were going fuzzy like static._

 _"Your body is calling you back..." he said, "And Mari? Do not be afraid to accept the offer that will be given to you."_

 _"What offer?" I demanded._

 _The lion pulled his muzzle back into a smile, "You'll know when the time comes. Now wake she-spirit. Wake..."_

 _He faded from my sight completely and I felt the sensation of falling. I opened my mouth to scream and no sound came out. I continued to fall. I tried activating my totem but it did not work._

 _Down and down I fell staring at a solid black ground rushing up towards me. I slammed into it..._

"AH!"

I shot up breathing hard. Pain started throbbing at the base of my skull and made its way up to my forehead. I ignored it and slowly looked around. I was in a hospital bed but the room in which it was situated did not look like a hospital. Since when do hospital rooms have computers in the middle of the room on a desk and televisions screens plastered on the walls?

"Oh...you're awake."

I turned suddenly in the direction of the voice and paid for it with a new wave of pain. I fell back on the pillow moaning to ease it. The voice had come from a woman who was wearing a white lab coat. I flinched from being startled but then relaxed. She did not look like a threat. In the corner was a much older man who was leaning back in his chair with a strange look on his face; I don't know if he was angry, annoyed, amused, or worried. Yeah...really hard to describe his face.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked bending over me.

I swallowed hard to erase the dry feeling in my throat before answering, "Like my head is an overinflated water balloon?"

I clutched my head to ease the pain and groaned. I frowned when I felt a bandage wrapped around it.

"Side effect from being hit on the back of your head..." man explained with a small smile, "You must have been hit quite hard to receive a minor concussion."

I recognized his voice as the one scolding Cisco about naming the Metahumans a day ago.

"Figures..." I muttered dropping my hands to the sides when the pain subsided, "Now where the hell am I?"

Before he could answer I saw another man walk into the room. He had some weird T-shirt on that said Keep Calm and May the Force be With You or something stupid like that. Geek alert much?

"Hey Vixen..." he grinned cheerfully letting me instantly know who he was, "I'm glad you like the nickname I gave you. Can I have your autograph?"

Would someone please knock me out again right now...please? Like right now...

"You and your obsessions..." the woman muttered shooting me a pitying look, "From what I heard you gave her that name because you thought she was hot Cisco. Also you already _have_ a girlfriend remember?"

'Cisco's' face turned beat red for a second and the man in the corner gave him a teasing grin," Smart move kid...really smart move naming her that for that reason."

I smirked at Cisco but winced when pain flooded my mind again. I mentally ran through all the curse words I knew but decided to keep my mouth shut.

"What can you remember?" the woman asked turning back to me.

"Apart from getting wacked in the head with something heavy and watching my friend get dragged off...nothing," I muttered.

In truth I had a really bad feeling the person who was behind the kidnapping had their name start with a K.

"You're lucky...B-d—Flash found you in the alleyway unconscious and bleeding..." the woman said.

You got to be kidding me! He followed me there...even after I told him to stop following me!

"And I'm going to kill him for getting your blood on his... _my_ suit..." Cisco grumbled before he paled and said meekly, "No offense..."

He was officially on my annoying person list now. I saw the older man crack a smile at the furious look on my face.

"Oh none taken considering I _like_ to almost bleed to death on someone..." I grumbled, "Consider _yourself_ lucky I liked the codename you gave me and the fact I am in extreme pain right now that I am _not_ shoving you headfirst in a trashcan!"

Not that I would actually do that. I found out that threatening to do something to someone worked just as much as actually doing it to them.

"Seems like you owe Flash twenty bucks Cisco..." the woman smirked.

What the heck did they bet on? My attitude? Who's brilliant idea was that one?

"Oh shut up Catlin..." he grumbled.

A gust of wind shot papers everywhere as Flash materialized in the room. His face was no longer vibrating; just like the first time I had seen him.

"You followed me again didn't you..." I said accusingly sitting up.

I paid for it for having a hypodermic nettle pop out of my arm and my head throbbing again. 'Catlin' started swabbing the blood off my arm silently scolding me.

Flash glared at me and spoke in his weird vibrating voice, "No! Someone called in saying there was an unconscious woman in the alleyway in which you were knocked out. What do you think I am...a speedster who stalks people?"

I decided not to answer that. The man in the corner said, "Can vouch for him on that one young lady...for me...not so much..."

Young lady? The _last_ time I was called that was in the fifth grade after I picked a fight with a six grader. Really did not bring back good memories of sitting on the principle's bench for two hours waiting for Patty to pick me up.

"Yeah considering you _were_ stalking our entire team for a total of six months..." Cisco muttered.

"I already explained why..." the older man scowled.

I frowned noticing that they deliberately in the dark about whoever the older man was.

"What happened...exactly?" Flash asked calming down.

"My friend was kidnapped...that is all I know..." I huffed, "Oh and not to mention that the whole 'you won the outfit design contest' was a scam to get me out here for reasons I still do not know."

I don't know who looked more less shocked; him or his friends. I think a little bit of both.

"Figured as much..." Flash sighed leaning against the table, "I um...read the reports on that man who was found in the alleyway. He was the real Bryan Roche. I have no idea who the man you were talking to was. I get the feeling that you know more than you are letting us in on."

So the man who was interested in our design was an imposter. And the last thing I would be doing was explaining what I knew to Flash.

"Considering all that has happened recently I think we should find that rather hard to surprise us..." the older man muttered.

"Case in point Harry..." Cisco muttered.

Who the hell was Harry?

"When I find out whoever he is...he's dead..." I muttered, "And if I knew something...I wouldn't tell you in the first place... _Flash_ "

Catlin flickered her eyes between the two of us and figured out real quick that things were going to get ugly real soon.

"Maybe we should continue this discussion...later..." she said cautiously.

I nodded.

"I actually came here to first...see if you were awake and second if you were to tell you that I'm trying to find your friend..." Flash sighed figuring out it would be safer to shut up about asking about what I knew.

The ball of anger I had wormed up inside of me melted away.

"Thank you..." I said softly.

"Turns out you have a soft side after all," Flash grinned.

Oh he did not just go there!

"And I guess you are not such a jerk after all," I snapped back.

Hey...I have a reputation to uphold!

"And there goes your soft side..." Flash chuckled, "You owe me twenty bucks Cisco."

"Don't spend it all at once..." Cisco grumbled digging a twenty out of his pocket and slamming it down on the table.

"Ignore them...Cisco is just upset that you didn't accept the offer to be trained," Catlin smiled at me.

So _that_ was what the bet was about.

"And I think Flash explained to him why..." I grumbled.

I lay back on the hospital bed and sighed. I really wanted to get up and look for Kate myself but...unless I wanted to make my injuries worse I had to wait. My head was throbbing rapidly at this point and my eyesight was a bit blurry. Cisco's and Flash's voices sounded slightly muffled; then the older gentlemen joined in as if he were asking something. I decided to close my eyes for a second in hopes it would diminish the headache.

* * *

I must have fallen asleep or something because the next thing I woke up and it was morning. No one was in the cortex (well I assumed that is what you called it). I noticed a couple words imprinted on the desk that held the three computers; S.T.A.R Labs.

"Ugh..." I groaned sitting up noticing that I had a S.T.A.R Labs sweatshirt on to replace my possibly bloodstained clothing.

The pain in my head had faded completely. I slid out of the hospital bed and nearly fell flat on my face but managed to keep my footing long enough to hobble over to my backpack that was lying on the desk. I started riffling through it hoping that nothing was missing. After looking around I pulled my vigilante costume out. I stared at it for a couple of minutes wondering if it was worth putting on or not.

"Nice costume...but I think I could have designed something better..." Cisco's voice sudden said.

I jumped and the costume fell to the ground.

"Don't _scare_ me like that!" I snapped picking it up, "I could have taken your head off right now if I didn't check to see who was speaking first."

"Thank you for _not_ taking my head off..." Cisco chuckled nervously.

Flash blasted into the room at that moment sending papers everywhere.

"Oh...you're awake..." he said, "How's the head?"

"Better..." I admitted.

I leaned against the table while he started trying to pick the papers he spilled everywhere up. Unfortunately he tried doing it while moving super fast that he just had them spill everywhere again. A young woman, Catlin,the older man from the day before and a man who looked suspiciously like the deceased Harrison Wells walked in just then. The first man sat down directly across from me and eyed me. I'll admit his scrutiny made me nervous and a little angry. I felt like saying ' _what are you looking at_ ' but figured that would be 'disrespecting' an elder.

The 'Harrison Wells' doppelganger stared at me as well so I gave him my death glare (because he looked like a total arrogant creep); making him chuckle. The older man gave me an approving look before shooting the other man a dirty look himself.

"You still haven't ordered paper weights?" the unnamed woman asked shaking her head at Flash.

"Hey...even with paper weights they still blow everywhere..." he complained.

The older man cracked a smile, "Don't try to tell me you haven't shattered any windows yet kid..."

I remembered reading that Flash had shattered nearly all the windows in Central City when he broke the sound barrier; that had to be _a lot_ of fun cleaning up.

"Plus I think the shipping company has had enough of our calls of back ordering paper weights..." Catlin put in with a chuckle as she sat down at one of the computers.

The unnamed woman turned her attention to me and frowned slightly.

"Who is this?"

I gave her a quick smile.

"Mari MaCabe..." Flash muttered without looking up as he pointed to the woman, "This is Iris West...my friend. And the older man in the corner staring at you is Jay...Garrick. And the guy you glared at is...err...Harry."

So the arrogant looking guy was Harry and the man who called me young lady was named Jay. Charming. I noticed Flash hesitated with the last two words describing Iris and I bent my head to hide my smirk. Seemed like he had a crush on this lady.

"You don't need to glare at me..." Harry said arching an eyebrow.

Was I still glaring at him? Maybe it was because he wouldn't stop _staring_ at my necklace.

"Considering you are an exact carbon copy of the man who murdered a guy's mother when he was eleven I think I have every right to glare at you..." I growled, "How the hell are you still alive?"

"Parallel universe..." he said smirking.

Am I the only one who wants to smack this guy at this point?

"Forget I asked..." I muttered, "I have a feeling that damn wormhole is responsible."

"Correct Maria..." he said dryly in a smug tone.

Oh he did _not_ just call me that!

"You're the lady who actually impressed Mr. Show off here..." 'Iris' asked fortunately saving Harry from me smacking him in his face.

"I am _not_ a show off..." Flash grumbled getting to his feet.

"No offense but I'm pretty sure having the ability to run on water and throw lighting like a boomerang is showing off..." Cisco chimed in.

"You can run on water?" I asked disbelievingly, " _And_ throw lightning?"

What else could this guy do?

"Taught him that..." 'Jay' put in.

I gave him a suspicious look before turning back to Flash. How could that man teach Flash that trick? He didn't even look like a speedster.

"Says the girl who can fly..." Flash grinned, "Still can't get over how cool that was."

Asides from blurting out one of my abilities...

"Wait you can fly?! That is so freaking cool!" Cisco's grin could have split his face open.

"And I'm guessing you draw your powers from the amulet around you neck?" Harry asked.

"Gee thanks...you two really did not give me much of a choice when you chased me up the side of that building and made me fall off the edge of it..." I grumbled ignoring Cisco completely.

Harry on the other hand got the ultimate stinking eye.

"Told you that was a bad idea on your part Barry..." Cisco muttered.

He immediately slapped his hand on his mouth while Flash and Iris shot him a writhing look. Jay on the other hand face palmed and muttered something about bringing duct tape.

Harry rolled his eyes mockingly, "Nice going Cesco..."

I had to laugh practically from their facial expressions and the other part from Harry saying Cisco's name wrong,"You got to be kidding me...Barry Allen the forensics scientist is the Flash?"

Now that is something you don't hear everyday. It also explained his expression on the rooftop when the Arrow was talking to some lady named Felicity. I could have sworn she said a name but her voice was kind of muffled.

"Unfortunately not..." Flash/'Barry' grumbled taking his mask off, "Thanks _so_ much Cisco for blurting out my secret identity."

His voice sounded normal now. Apparently he was vibrating his vocal cords (the four times I met him in the city)/facial expression (the second time I saw him but he stopped doing it after the mugger incident) or something so I couldn't recognize him; since I saw him in his civilian identity.

"Its fair considering you know her secret identity..." Jay pointed out.

"You told him and _everyone_ else!?" I asked.

I wasn't too annoyed; I mean as long as Kate and the Metahuman task force never found out I was ok with it.

"Before I promised you not to tell anyone...err...never mind Jay made me talk about if after he heard your voice on the comn. But I haven't and won't tell the Metahuman task force about it," Barry answered sheepishly scratching the back of his head, "And you are not going to tell anyone about my secret right?"

"Not to mention I did run a..." Harry started to say before Jay stomped on his foot.

He cursed and shot the other man a filthy look.

"Um no..." I snorted ignoring to two men, "You've manage to keep your mouth shut about this to the Metahuman task force long enough so I won't."

"I like this kid..." Jay grinned.

He and the girls started laughing while the Cisco shot them all a dirty look and Harry did his best to look like a total ass. Barry on the other hand looked like he wanted to run away and hide. He had to be mortified that I had found out about his secret ID because of his friend's big mouth. Before I could tease him about it, my phone started ringing.

"I'll answer it..." I said, "Because if its my adoptive father I think he would faint if he knew the Flash picked it up."

I had to at least throw a dig in.

"I _said_ I was sorry about that..." Barry huffed.

I smirked at him and answered my vibrating phone, "Hello."

Maybe I shouldn't have answered it at all and let Barry answered it.

"Hello...Mari..."

I nearly dropped the phone. I'd recognize that voice from anywhere. Barry turned to me with a frown. Before he could speak I put a finger on my mouth to silence him.

"Kuasa..." I spat venomously once I was sure no one was going to say anything.

Her image appeared on the phone kind of like when you Skype someone. I could see that she was in some sort of building but alone.

"Is that how you greet a sister?" she taunted.

"You are no sister of mine..." I spat.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Cisco start typing something on a computer.

"Really Mari? You do realize we are related?" she sighed.

Kuasa's figure appeared on the computer screens but as far as I could tell all she could see was still me. I silently vowed to thank/slap Cisco later if he was the one responsible for this.

"Yeah but _normal_ sisters would not leave the other to die on the African Savannah of a poisonous spider bite..." I growled before smirking, "Though I suppose its fair I gave you a taste of your own medicine."

I saw Jay cock his head to the side but he did not seem at all surprised by what he had heard. It seemed to me that he had seen/heard a lot of horrible things in his life; don't ask me how I knew...I just knew.

My sister's face pinched up and turned scarlet red, " I'm surprised you managed to take me down even without the totem."

"Try taking self defense classes in high school," I responded, "But oh...I forgot. You were to busy trying to hunt me down with a vast amount of money in order to take the totem."

"Burn..." Cisco muttered in the background.

"Don't antagonize her kid..." I heard Jay mutter to me.

"Give it to her," Harry said.

Real good pieces of advice right now...NOT!

"Would you three shut up?" I mouthed furiously at them.

"Which is rightfully mine..." Kuasa responded instantly apparently not hearing Cisco's, Jay's, or Harry's comment.

Or my attempt to shut two annoying and one arrogant _and_ annoying people up.

"Ah no...as I told you before...the animal spirits thought you went off the deep end and that you were corrupt by darkness and blah, blah, blah," I stopped and groaned, "Now I sound like Obi Wan Kenobi...great."

Barry snickered and promptly got elbowed in the ribs by Iris. Jay put a finger to his mouth to quiet them and gestured at me to continue with an encouraging nod. I smiled at him slightly grateful that at least _someone_ was backing me up.

Harry ruined the moment by nodding his head while pinching his lips together. Now I had a supposedly dead guy encouraging me...great. Should have this had shown up on my job transcript?: _I got advice from a retired speedster and a supposedly dead guy from another dimension oh._

"Do you wonder why I even bothered calling you?" Kuasa asked quivering slightly from anger from my stinging remark.

I was please to have seen I had gotten under her skin.

"To say 'hand me to the totem before I have one of my hired muscle heads shoot you?'" I laughed before snorting, "I've had a lot of practice recently dodging bullets so I'd like to see you try."

"Oh...but in this case I think you would make an exception..." I decided my evil sister Kuasa's smile was even creepier than her frown.

That was when a bounded figure was dragged on the screen by two men.

"Mari! Don't listen to her!"

I stiffened recognizing Kate's voice.

"Give me the totem in exchange for your friend...if you don't she dies..." Kuasa said smugly.

Kate struggled in the background as one of the men pointed a gun at her head and cocked the safety off. Behind me I heard Catlin gasp in horror.

"If you hurt her I swear you'll be in a whole world of pain," I snarled, "When I get done with you you'll be wishing I tossed a sharpened stick at your arm like last time!"

"Sharpened stick?" Cisco muttered, "Is she a vampire or something?"

Harry frowned at him and he immediately shut up. Barry glared at the both of them before turning back to the screen with a curious expression on his face. I really couldn't label it; except it looked like he wanted to punch my sister in the face. Which I would pay fifty two million dollars to see (that is if I had it).

"Ah...ah...ah..." Kuasa shook her index finger at me as if I were a naughty puppy, "Do that and she dies."

When I didn't respond and just glared at her she continued, "I will give you a two hour time limit to come to the building on Fifty-Second Street and Avenue Lane; _alone_. If you tell anyone...such as the police I will make sure her death is preformed as painfully and as slowly as possible."

"And if I refuse?" I asked a pit of dread settling in my stomach.

"Well...she'll be sent home in a body bag..." Kuasa said in a board tone while examining her fingernails, "Your choice Mari. Come alone with the Totem. I have waited long enough as it is."

Then she hung up. So I did the most logical thing: I clenched my hands and called my sister a whole boatload of names that I will defiantly not repeat here (as well as ignoring the dirty looks Jay was sending me).

"You have a sister?" Cisco asked bewildered after I was done.

"An evil...psychotic...lunatic...egotistical...self-serving...arrogant...son of a—" I started.

"Language young lady or I'm getting a bar of soap..." Jay interrupted pointing a scolding finger at me.

I ignored his threat highly doubting he would even complete it.

"—Pig...who when I get my hands on her will immensely regret it!" I continued.

"Why do I have a feeling that the names you just called your sister also pertain to me?" Harry muttered.

" _Because I also meant you as well_?" I thought.

"Just out of curiosity but why do you hate her so much?" Iris asked.

"Long story..." I muttered setting the phone down.

I really didn't want to explain the whole thing. But by the look I saw in Barry's eyes I knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Fine then...I tell it quick, "I sighed in in annoyance, "After...err...Flash and Arrow chased me I went to go see a professor who has three PHD's in African artifacts. While I was talking to him...this lady broke the door down with two men and demanded I hand her the necklace in order to avoid getting shot."

"You didn't beat her up when she said that you?" Barry asked incredulously, "Because you did a _really_ good job of doing that to me and the Arrow minutes before hand."

He still had not gotten over that?

"I was still recovering from being chased by you two..." I snapped.

"I now see why she is not fond of you kid..." Jay chuckled.

"Not helping Jay..." Barry grumbled.

"To bad you couldn't follow her there..." Harry put in.

"And _defiantly_ not helping Harry..." Barry sighed in annoyance.

"Anyways..." I said before the threesome could continue, "I tried removing the necklace but found that it had bonded itself to me. I tried to escape...got shot in the arm...woke up...kidnapped to Africa and found out about who my real family was. Then my sister showed me she had officially lost it by stating she had responsibility to the village —which was in ruins —as well to the dead. I tried running...failed...got bit by a spider to sever the bond with the necklace...escaped...passed out. Came to...kicked my sister's ass and then had another enlightening conversation with you and the Arrow."

I took a deep breath before continuing, "So yeah...I have a feeling my life is even more screwed up than yours..."

"You'd be surprised..." Barry muttered.

He cast a quick look at his friends and I could see similar expressions on their faces.

"So basically you have an evil sister..." Cisco said coughing awkwardly after noticing I was staring at them, "That sucks."

I did my best to glare daggers at him, "Yes it sucks...thanks _so_ much for pointing that out!"

"So what I don't get is exactly how she wants the necklace around your neck so much..." Iris said.

I sighed and dug the palms of my hands into the desk in front of me, "Because that is what gives me my power."

"Called it..." Harry put in.

His arrogant smirk faltered slightly when I scowled at him.

"You did mention something about it being magic..." Barry remembered.

"Magic!?" Catlin let out a bark of laughter, "Please..."

"Magic exists Ms. Snow..." Jay spoke up, "Trust me."

"I for once...agree with Garrick..." Harry put in, "And I cannot believe I am saying this considering I am a famous, well-know scientist on my earth."

"And just when I thought your narcissism was gone it is back in full swing..." Cisco muttered.

He got that right.

"It's magic..." I grumbled backing Jay (and unfortunately Harry as well) up, " _Unfortunately_. Even after all these months I still don't fully understand how the damn thing works."

My piece said I grabbed my costume and started out the door.

"Where do think you're going young lady?" Jay asked.

I really had had it with the young lady crap.

"Where do you think? To save my friend..." I grumbled.

"Please let us help you..." Barry urged, "You do realize she is not going to let you two go once she gets her hands on that totem."

Part of me wanted to snap back at him that no...I didn't need any help. But I hesitated. I remembered what the spirit lion had told me; that an offer would be coming my way...one that I could not refuse.

So I turned back to Barry who was looking at me hopefully and gave him my answer.


	6. Showdown

**Second to last chapter...isn't it weird that their are six chapters which were the same amount of episodes released? I so did not do this intentionally.**

* * *

I crouched down in the shadows on the top of a five story building eyeing the taller building across the street from me cautiously. Armed men patrolled the roof tops as well as the ground floor leaving only ten second openings to slip by. Night had fallen so at least it provided me with some much needed cover. I glanced down anxiously at my costume. How the heck was I going to explain this to Kate when this was over?

I gently touched the Totem and there was a faint three dimensional faintly glowing image of a jaguar that surrounded me. Once it faded I crouched down and flew up towards the building. I had designed the gloves to have sharp ends on the ends of them; like claws. They sank into the concrete supported of the building as if it were butter. I started climbing up looking down every once in a while to make sure no one had noticed me. Once I got to the top I waited until the men had passed by before leaping over their heads without them noticing me.

Landing on the bed of gravel without so much as disturbing it I slinked over a nearby air vent. I frowned wishing that there was a better way to comb the building without alerting any of Kuasa's guards. But it would have to do. I activated my totem again and tore the vent grating off like tin foil before dropping it silently to the ground.

" _This is where being skinny really comes in handy..._ " I thought squeezing into the vent.

Immediately I was shrouded in darkness. The air was rather thin in the tight spot. I started regretting all those times I teased Kate about freaking out when she was in a tight space. I understood now why she was so scared of them.

" _Ok...so doing it like a normal person is not going to work..._ " I thought.

I touched the Totem again not sure it the technic I wanted to use was going to work. I grinned when the faintly glowing shape was that of a snake. That one was one I had never tried but had really been wanting to. From then on I was able to worm my way through the air vents with ease; even ones that were barely five inches wide.

" _Now if I was a crazy, power hungry witch...where would I hide?"_ I thought before smacking my forehead softly, " _Duh...the basement!"_

I crawled toward the vent that lead to the basement. I had managed to print off a blueprint of the building's lay out before leaving S.T.A.R Labs and memorized it. But unfortunately it did not tell me about the fifty foot drop; straight down. Made sense since I was on the top of the building.

I cursed a blue streak. I couldn't exactly glide down...it was too narrow and I hadn't figured out how to use two animal powers at the same time yet. It would probably work but I didn't want to try doing it in this situation in case it did not work. To make matters worse the grating over this particular vent gave way while I was deciding what to do next and I went free falling down the vent.

I remembered reading somewhere that a human body accelerates roughly twenty miles an hour for every second it is in the air. So basically if you are falling three seconds you have reached a maximum speed of sixty miles per hour; which is like traveling on a freeway in a car at rush hour. Factor in gravity, friction, inertia and terminal speed well...I shouldn't say anymore since you guys will probably take me to be a geek (WHICH I AM NOT!)

So lets do the math...it took me roughly four seconds to hit the bottom. Which brings us to a whopping grand total of eighty miles per hour.

Yep you said it...ouch.

I barely had time to activate my totem before I hit the bottom, slid a couple of feet forward, knocked the grating off entrance to the vent, and shot out the opening like a human cannonball into a wooden crate.

To be honest I really do not remember much of the fall...just the thought " _I'm going to FRACKING DIE!"_ before I crashed into the crates.

So much for stealth mode...

(Ok...to be honest I did not say the word 'fracking' in my mind. It was a whole lot worse than that...but I think some of you are too young to hear it.)

At any rate it took at least two minutes to recover my breath and my stomach which had been left behind somewhere on the thirtieth floor. I lay on the cold ground groaning in pain before getting to my feet. My entire body ached for a couple seconds but the pain faded. I had found out that the necklace accelerated my healing rate which was good in some cases and bad in others (case and point: I cut my hand once with a knife and had to wear a Band-aid over a completely healed wound for a month after the incident).

I crept around the wooden crates that filled the bottom of the basement towards the back of the room which had a small table with some lights on it. Kuasa was standing there looking in my general direction.

"I know you are there..." she called.

I stepped out of the shadows so all she could see was my upper body.

"Give me the Totem..." she purred holding her hand out.

"First...the girl..." I growled, "Let me see her."

Kuasa looked taken back at first to see that my voice sounded completely different. But she snapped her fingers and Kate was thrown into the center of the room duct taped. She stared at me wide eyed and let out a muffled gasp behind her gag; as in shock but not in recognition. I relieved to see she was unhurt. I glanced at her without emotion (this was hard to accomplish) before turning back to my sister.

"I never thought that the famous Vixen of Motor City would care about an unimportant urchin such as this girl..." Kuasa smirked gesturing to my friend, "Cannot believe you came out all the way to help her."

I was confused as to why she was saying my code-name. Whatever game she was up to could not good.

"She is one of those people I protect in my city on a daily routine..." I spat, "Now _let_... _her_... _go_..."

"First the Totem..." Kuasa snapped her fingers.

I glared at her but lifted the necklace off my neck. I tossed it to her which she caught with obvious glee.

"Finally..." she cackled lifting it up into the air.

"If you are done crazy, lunatic lady...I'd like the girl freed please..." I lifted my chin up as a spoke so my older sister could look me in the eyes, " _Now_."

"I think not..." Kuasa smirked lowering the necklace to her side.

She snapped her fingers with her free hand and about five armed men came out of the shadows. One of them stepped forward and pressed the barrel of his gun against the back of Katie's head. She let out a muffled scream behind the duct tape and her eyes went wide with fear. She started shaking slightly and a tears leaked out of her eyes which were silently begging me ' _I don't care how much I can't stand you...just please...please...help me_ '.

It was enough to let a balloon of anger swell up in me.

"I thought you said this was between us..." I growled.

I was itching to leap at my sister and punch her right in the eye but restrained myself. It was suicide with all those men of hers. And I had to stick to the plan I had had hidden up my sleeve.

"There has been a change of plans..." Kuasa smiled satisfied that she had pissed me off, "I never intended for you two to get out of here alive. You do realize that don't you?"

I started to laugh. My laughter rang out and echoed across the room before dying away. My sister was so taken back that she stepped away from me. But realizing she had to 'keep face' she stepped forward with a sneer.

"What's so funny?" she spat.

"Oh nothing...just how incredibly _stupid_ you are..." I responded smugly crossing my arms, "I figured you'll try to pull a fast one on me...which is why I brought a friend along."

Kuasa looked confused for a moment but gestured for her men to open fire. I blinked and Kate was gone. There had been no sounds of gunshots but there was a faint smell of electricity in the air.

"You guys really need to work on your aim..." a voice said from behind the thugs.

Flash held up the five guns which he collected from the thugs before tossing behind him. The thugs gaped and stared down at their empty hands before turning and fleeing into the shadows. Barry smirked teasingly from behind his mask, at Kuasa who was glancing at him and me wide eyed and horrified.

"Fun fact for you sis...he is one of the two men who chased me before I met you the first time," I said with a grin, "So in case you and your boys want to find out _exactly_ why he is called the fastest man alive...I suggest you don't show your faces ever in our territories again."

Kuasa trembled with rage turned, and shouted into the shadows, "Get them -both of them- you imbeciles! That's what I pay you for!"

Backup had unfortunately arrived while I busy taunting her. Which meant about twenty men opened fire on me. I instinctively shut my eyes and felt a jolt as someone grabbed me. Opening them cautiously I found myself behind a row of packing crates with an unconscious Kate tussled up like a turkey next to me. I figured she fainted when she found out who her rescuer was.

"Thanks..." I breathed to Flash/Barry who was crouching next to me.

I decided not to mention how close I was to throwing up this instance.

He nodded and pressed something into my hand, "Don't mention it. Surprising her with me worked really well. Not to mention the voice changer Cisco lent you."

I had to say...that look on Kuasa's face had made the day a whole lot better. I watched as Barry bent over Kate and started to vibrate his hands. How I knew? They gave off yellow sparks of electricity as he sawed his way through the thick rope that bonded her.

"I have the whole conversation on recording Mari..." Cisco said into my earpiece, "So if you want to rub it in her face when she in jail feel free to use it."

"What have I told you about doing that?" I heard Jay scold over the comn.

"I don't think it would be a safe call; because then the Metahuman taskforce will know who the Motor City vigilante is..." Harry put in unhelpfully (but truthfully).

I smirked even though they couldn't see me; perfectly imagining Cisco's face right then. I peered over the top of the packing crates and paid for it with a spray of bullets that nearly hit me. I barely had time to yank my head back cursing under my breath the whole time. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Barry looking at me worriedly.

"You didn't get hit I hope?"

If I had gotten hit I think he would know. I noticed that he finished freeing Kate which at least lifted some weight off my shoulders. Another barrage of bullets spraying the crate brought me back to the current problem.

"Remember the plan?" I asked while nodding to let him know I was fine.

He nodded back; his white emblem on his suit flashing in the dim light, "Take out the hired help and your sister is all yours. Should I take out the ones patrolling the roof? They are actually wanted, escaped convicts from Iron Heights who were broken out five days ago."

"Have a field day..." I told him, "And if it is not to much to ask...drop Katie off at the nearest hospital please?"

Barry nodded and sped off with Kate leaving me behind. Seconds later I heard his voice resounding down the vents.

"Do you want to take down a defenseless woman or the guy who put you behind bars blockheads? I'm on the roof...err...come and get me?"

I face palmed at his stupidity of hesitating at the last sentence as well as the lousy insult name. And I vowed to punch him for calling me defenseless. I opened my hand and saw the Totem gleaming at me. I smiled grimly. The idiot had managed to pull it off after all. I quickly put it on and hid it beneath my costume. Hopefully the plan worked.

"You really need to work on your insult names Barry..." Harry muttered into the headset, "Even my Flash had better ones."

"I never recalled insulting anyone..." Jay snapped, "Well maybe except for you; occasionally."

Cisco snickered.

Kuasa shouted, "Go after him(referring to Barry)...I'll take care of Vixen."

I jumped to my feet as all her men exited the room leaving us the only two behind.

"One on one...like last time sis?" I smirked clenching my fists.

She bared her teeth at me, "Let's..."

"Kick her ass Vixen!" Cisco cheered.

"Language kid..." I heard Jay grumble.

"Why didn't you tell _her_ that when she was cussing earlier about the steep drop in the air ducts?" Cisco whined.

Kuasa pounced at me bringing me back to my current predicament but I managed to dodge and sweep my feet under hers in order to knock her to the ground.

"You really think...you can stop me when I have the Totem in my grasp!?" she asked pointing the necklace around her neck as she got to her feet.

"No...but I can still try..." I said.

She shrieked like something possessed and charged at me. I dodged her and she slammed right into one of the wooden packing crates. In my comn I could hear the sounds of fighting and figured that Flash was busy knocking out God knows how many guards. Where the hell did Kuasa get all her money to pay off her own personal army?

After wrenching herself free of the wreckage my sister charged at me with a hands extended. In one hand she held a sharp piece of wood. What was she trying to do? Stab me? She summersaulted over me when I dodged her again but managed to slice a clean deep wound into my shoulder. So yeah...that was what she was trying to do.

I cried out in pain and stumbled away from her. I clenched my injury as blood started pouring out of it.

"Mari?" I heard Barry call hesitantly over the comn.

I was surprised to hear that he was concerned.

"I'm fine...take care of your problem first...and I will take care of mine..." I wheezed backing away from my lunatic sister.

"Does it count if I say I'm nearly done?" he asked dryly.

"Just do it!"

"You are much weaker than the last time you fought me without the Totem..." Kuasa said stalking towards me.

I backed away until she had backed me into against a wall. She was smiling as if she were happy she was going to murderer me in cold blood.

"Well its a good thing I am not without it!" I snapped back bringing the Totem out from under my outfit.

Kuasa's smug face turned to mortification as I taped it and punched her; just like I had done with the Flash/Barry and her the first time we fought all those months ago. She flew back against the opposing wall and hit her head with a crack. The 'dummy totem' shattered and she slid to the ground with a moan. Guess I owed Cisco big time for destroying his 'masterpiece'.

"Night sis..." I spat clutching my shoulder.

I fell forward onto my knees as all the adrenaline rushed out of me; panting heavily. Seconds later Barry came upon me panting. He helped me to my feet and helped me keep steady.

"You ok? -Oh- you are not o-" he said seeing my wounded shoulder.

I frowned at him and cut him off by punching him in the arm; hard. How hard? Hard enough to hear the cartilage crack but not enough to break his arm.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!?" he yelped.

He rubbed it while cursing under his breath.

"For stating the obvious..." I smirked, "Also consider it payback for not warning me about the fifty foot drop in the vent. Not to mention calling me defenseless."

"I'm ninety-three percent sure that was my fault..." Cisco muttered, "I mean the air-vent thing...not the naming you defenseless thing." -here he whimpered- "So please don't punch me."

Barry frowned at me but didn't have a clever comeback. I walked forward and looked down at my sister. I felt a tug of pain in my chest but it soon faded. How could someone become so corrupted by evil?

Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw Barry perk his head up as if listening. I listened to and heard police sirens in the distance.

"That would be our cue to go, "he said, "Especially you...I don't think CCPD likes your alter ego that much. Me? Another story. I would probably have sign autographs if I were seen."

I nodded pitying him, "I'll meet you at S.T.A.R Labs. I have to pick up my things before getting ready to leave back to Motor City tomorrow or who knows when depending on when I clean _her_ mess up."

I nudged my sister with my foot to emphasize the point.

He nodded, "I dropped your friend off at St. Andrew's hospital. She's has a few broken bones but will recover just fine."

I nodded and turned away from him. Barry turned to leave and I said

"Hey Flash?"

He turned to me with warily a slight frown; perhaps thinking I was going to snap at him again.

I smiled at him, "Thanks."

Barry stared at me a few seconds and blinked as if he couldn't believe what I just said. But then he smiled at me with a smile that lit up his entire face and gave a small mock salute before racing off. I glanced down at Kuasa's still form for a few seconds before running up to the first floor. Before police even swarmed the building arresting all the thugs who were handcuffed to every pillar in the first floor I was already flying high above the city.


End file.
